The drive...

Terrible weather made for aweful driving conditions, adding about 4-5 hours each way on the drive from here to Vancouver. I can't even say how many crashes, slide-offs, and roll-overs we saw along the way. It's a good thing we had already Pricelined our hotels in Boise because they were full of stranded travelers. The pictures below are of us driving through the Blue Mountains, maxed out at 15 mph. It was one of the very few moments Andy slept on the drive. I was a little worried about our worn tires, but Black Panther didn't skip a beat! She'll get new shoes next winter.

Portland Winterhawks

We got into Vancouver on Wednesday afternoon, ate potato soup at Rick and Diane's, then took off with Brad, Rach, and Mickey to watch the Winterhawks play at the Rose Garden. We parked our car and took the Max in to save on parking; though after we all paid for our Max tickets we realized it would've been cheaper to park there, but Andy seemed to enjoy the rail ride. It was cold that night, which says a lot coming from Idaho...luckily Mickey had brought along two extra Winterhawks beanies for the youngin's: Andy and Brad. Lance really enjoyed his first hockey game, and got all excited when fights broke out. Mickey bought Andy a little souvenir hockey stick, which kept him and the nice man in front of us busy throughout the last quarter, playing a good fun game of 'throw and retrieve'. Lance and I are both looking forward to the day when we get to buy Mickey's kids hard plastic smacking devices.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at the Wisniewski house. Once Andy and Jack warmed up to eachother they had a great time chasing one another (and the cat) around Grandpa and Grandma's house. Andy loved playing with the play kitchen set, and I told Lance we need to get him one for his next birthday. He didn't seem too keen on the idea of his son owning his own kitchen set, so I guess it's a good thing Mom does all the shopping around here!

Visiting Santa

On friday after Thanksgiving we went to the Westfield mall with Dustin and Erika and their kids, and Rachel and Mickey. They've added a carousel since my high school days of working there; Andy and Lillie loved it, while Jack cried. Lance and I stopped for a pose at the Toy Story photo op, and luckily we got a good picture of Andy on Santa's lap before he started crying! I think Rachel secretly enjoyed pushing Erika and Dustin's stroller around the mall--can we say 'future mom??' Ha!